Blog

  • What is a wiki?

    Now, I still think the wiki thing is going to be big, but people still don’t get it. Congregational wiki? Church unconference anyone? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, see this video: [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY]

  • Presbyterian Bloggers?

    I was asked earlier this week whether or not there was a network of bloggers within the Church of Scotland akin to the Scottish Episcopal Blog Posse. I’m not sure that there is. Can anyone point me to persons blogging about the Church of Scotland? (And I don’t mean Episcopalians, I mean those who belong…

  • The Plague of Bad Typography

    Remember the Plagues of Egypt? Well, I bet you can’t actually. Indeed, there is a reasonable chance that if you bet any mildly inebriated bunch of divinity students a pint of something nice that they cannot name all the plagues in order you will have a pleasant evening. (Next week go back and ask them…

  • Hate Mail

    I’ve been watching some of the Channel 4 stuff this week about the 40th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in England. (In England, Channel 4 – only in England). One of the questions which has repeatedly been raised in this programming strand is whether there is really any problem for people being gay these…

  • Mystery Worshipper

    Hey! We’ve were visited by the Mystery Worshipper at Evensong on Easter Day. More at the Ship of Fools.

  • Tales of the City #2

    The scene is the barber’s shop. I stand framed in the doorway and am greeted by Jamie the Barber. Jamie the Barber: Phew! Self: I’d like a haircut. Jamie the Barber: You’re in the right place sir. Just come over here and sit yourself down. A pause. Jamie the Barber: I’ll just… if you don’t……

  • Book Review – Coming In

    Coming In – Gays and lesbians reclaiming the spiritual journey by Urs Mattmann – foreword by Richard Rohr. Published by Wild Goose Publications – £9.99 So very much of what is said about gay people and religion is said by straight people. Straight people sometimes seem to be obsessed by gay people in the church.…

  • Book Review – Resurrexit

    Resurrexit: Music for Lent and Eastertide In the time since I was ordained some years ago, there has never been a Holy Week in which someone has not telephoned to enquire where one might find a copy of the Exsultet – the ancient Easter hymn of praise. Sometimes the request is more specific – where…

  • Book Review – Reclaiming the Sealskin

    Reclaiming the Sealskin: Meditations in the Celtic Spirit by Annie Heppenstall-West is a series of meditations on themes that are mostly drawn from the natural world (eg Ripples, Deer, Fire, Otter). Each theme has a beautifully drawn card that comes ready to be pressed out of the book. The idea is to take a theme…

  • Book Review – Mission Implausible

    Mission Implausible – Restoring Credibility to the Church (Paternoster Press £15.99) Duncan MacLaren’s new book Mission Implausible should be required reading for all those formulating mission strategies and schemes in the church, as well as for students of the mission of God’s people in the world. Contemporary sociological analysis of society is used by the…